The National Dairy Federation has issued an advisory for milk producers in the event that an employee contracts COVID-19.  Their recommendations are appropriate for egg production farms and packing plants.

• If the employee complains of fever, a cough or other symptoms in the workplace, the individual should be sent home and a sample should be submitted for diagnosis
• If an employee phones in from home claiming fever or symptoms consistent with COVID-19 they should be instructed to stay at home and arrange for testing.
• Employers have an obligation to inform ‘close contacts’ of the infected employee that they may have been exposed to the virus.  It is essential to maintain confidentiality with respect to the infected individual. Obviously in a small workforce the identity will become known but this should not be from the employer.  For the purposes of defining “close contact”, this would entail working within six feet over a prolonged period of time.  In the context of egg-packing plants this would obviously apply to workers transferring packs to outer containers where close contact is inevitable.
• A report to the Occupational Health Safety Administration may be required since the employee may have contracted COVID-19 in the workplace although this is virtually impossible to confirm.
• The Workman’s Compensation carrier should be informed of the infection and claim forms should be provided for the employee.

Prevention is obviously preferable to having to address an outbreak and accordingly the accepted precautions are required. These comprise providing masks, social distancing as far as possible, health screening at the beginning of the working day, hand washing and personal hygiene and education of workers.  It is self-evident that any written recommendations should be in the language understood by workers.

All workers should receive the seasonal influenza vaccine since concurrent COVID-19 influenza will predispose a severe disease and freedom from influenza from vaccination will expedite a clinical diagnosis of COVID-19.

OSHA proposed the maximum penalty of $14,000 on Smithfield Foods as a result of COVID-19 in their Sioux Falls, SD. plant for failing to protect employees from exposure.  In addition to OSHA citations, an extensive outbreak will inevitably lead to civil claims that will be expensive to defend.  Punitive damages could be assessed if wanton disregard for the safety of employees is demonstrated. State Departments of Occupational Safety such as in California have already issued citations and fines against small-scale meat processors in amounts far in excess of the Smithfield fine.